Secrets
by Shestrun
Summary: Ziva has been keeping a secret from her team.  When something terrible happens to her, they finally find out, but it's too late...  Or is it?
1. Faster than the speed of death

I wish it were mine…

…..

Ziva lay on her side, a blanket thrown over. _I have to tell them. They're going to find out anyway… _

She reached under pillow and pulled out a book. No, wait. She'd grabbed her gun. _That's the story of my life. _

Yes, indeed, Ziva. But not just yours.

Opening the diary, she turned several pages, pausing for a moment at a photo which managed to elicit a smile. A few more pages, and she'd reached the end of her writing. Beginning a new entry, she filled in the date:

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

I think I will tell my team tomorrow. I mean, they're practically my family. They deserve to know. They'll find out anyway, and it would be better if they found out from me, yes? I know I should have told them earlier, but I didn't. I'm not sure why. Maybe because they would have made a different choice? I may never kn- -

The sound of breaking glass abruptly jarred Ziva out of her writing reverie. Dropping the book, she jumped to her feet, charging into the living room, only to stop dead in her tracks. The barrel of a gun was only inches from her face. She gasped and took a step back, but realized that doing so wouldn't do any good.

"No! Don't-"

..

The mind is a strange creature, one able to easily overlook what could be considered blindingly obvious, yet also to notice what might seem impossible.

Three thoughts raced through Ziva's mind before everything went black:

1. It actually did hurt, a little. Pain travels faster than the speed of death. But she didn't mind the pain. She did get scared when it stopped.

2. Yes, your life actually does flash before your eyes.

3. It looked like a horror movie.

She wished she could have told her team that. It would have made them smile.

…

Author's note: Do I have your attention? More reviews=faster updates.


	2. Cats

This is unmine.

….

Gibbs calls it his gut. Others call it a sixth sense, or thin-slicing, or even spidey-senses. No matter what one calls it, _something_ was bothering Ziva's honorary family.

As such, over at the NCIS office, it was business as other than usual. McGee was worried. "Ziva's two hours late. I mean, the last time she was this late, the Iranians were trying to frame her for murder." He paused for a moment. "Come on, guys, even for her this is a little-"

Gibbs interrupted. "If you're worried, call her, otherwise… you know, you're right. Shut up, and _I_ will call her." He reached for his cell phone, only to have it ring in his hand. He swore under his breath and opened it.

**The subsequent awkward conversation****: **

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"Sir, I'm a paramedic from Bethesda Naval Hospital, and you're listed as the ICE number for a woman we have here-"

"ICE?"

"In case of emergency-"

"For who?"

"Um, we've identified her as a Ziva David-"

"D* it! Why didn't you just say so?"

"I was going to-"

"What happened? How is she?"

"I don't have her condition; it just says gunshot victim-"

"D* it! Stupid hospitals!"

He slammed the phone shut.

"Grab your gear!"

"Where're we going?"

Gibbs grabbed his gun, walking toward the elevator.

"Ziva's place."

"What happened?" McGee began to realize that his earlier trepidation had not been unfounded.

"Well, that's what we're going to find out."

…...

Yellow plastic crime scene tape crisscrossed the door to Ziva's apartment, eerily reminiscent of a child's room McGee had once encountered. They walked in carefully, clearing the room.

"Boss…" Tony pointed to the window, which had been shattered. "Someone broke in."

"Ya think, DiNozzo?"

When acquiring an animal to guard one's domicile, most would purchase a dog. Ziva, however, must not have been too concerned about convention, however. McGee jumped back with a startled cry as two cats leaped out from a door he had just opened, swiping at his feet.

"What the heck! Attack cats?"

Tony was equally surprised. "I didn't know Ziva had cats… But I have to say, I'm not surprised that they're that vicious. I mean, with a human like Ziva around all the time-"

Gibbs smacked him on his head. "Sedate them, get them to Abby. There's blood on those claws."

Tony and McGee exchanged a worried glance. "Um, Boss, I'm allergic to cats and Tony, well, he's not exactly very good with them… You know, we'll just figure something out."

….

She ran for hours. The pounding of her feet on pavement helped to distract from the stinging scratches on her hands. _Bloody cats _had_ to raise the alarm. I just _can't _believe a bullet through the forehead didn't finish her. That's all it took for her to kill him. _

There was nothing else for it. She would just have to get better, and kill her again.

….

"So what happened?"

Gibbs was interviewing a teenage guy from the apartment next to Ziva's.

"I heard this gunshot and then these cats yowling, so I opened the door and-"

"Her door was open?"

"No, she gave me a key, and anyway, I saw someone climb out the window, but I didn't get a good look at them, and then I noticed Miss David lying there on the floor, so I called 911, and they kind of took over…"

"How badly hurt was she? The stupid hospital wouldn't tell me anything."

"I don't know. She had a lot of blood on her face, but I think she was still breathing."

Gibbs nodded, something still bothering him. "She gave you a key to her apartment?"

The teenager confirmed. "She wanted me to take care of her cats, like scoop their litter boxes…"

Gibbs swore under his breath. _Don't tell me…_

…

Any guesses?


	3. I noticed

I don't own this.

Here's an interesting factoid. I saw a story written about situation A, and everyone thought it was going to be situation B, and now I'm writing B, and everyone thinks it's A. True irony.

….

It's an odd fact of life that the faster one needs something done, the slower it will go. Ziva would probably have botched the idiom as "the watched pot calling the cat black", or some such.

Speaking of cats…

"Good kitty. Now just one more swab, and you can go play with your friend."

Abby was having _way_ too much fun with her latest evidence. Gibbs walked in with a Caf-Pow.

"What-"

"Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs! These guys are so cute! Where are Tony and McGee? How's Ziva? I have to go see her!"

"Tony and McGee are still working Ziva's apartment, and Ducky says she's still in surgery. Do you have anything yet?"

"Well, there's two types of blood on them- one matches Ziva's type, one doesn't, and I'm running the DNA already-"

With the usual impeccable timing, one of Abby's machines dinged.

"I've been analyzing what I presume is Ziva's blood- whoa."

"Whoa what?"

"Whoa, Ziva's estrogen levels are way up, which means-"

"She's pregnant."

"Why do I get the feeling you already knew that?"

"That's why she got her neighbor to scoop the cats' litterboxes."

….

Ducky crouched next to Ziva's hospital bed and put his hand on her cheek, trying to avoid the bandage around her head.

"Oh, Ziva, who did this to you?"

He picked up her medical chart and sifted through it. _This is not good- oh my. _Opening his phone, he punched in Gibbs' number.

"Hey, Duck. How is she?"

"It doesn't look good. She's on a ventilator, and they're trying to run some tests to figure out what's going on, if anything… But that's not all. It says here that Ziva is pregnant."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"How on earth did you- never mind." He sighed quietly, glancing over at Ziva again. "It seems our dear Israeli friend has been keeping a few secrets."

…

"Hey look, a diary."

"What?"

"Never heard of a diary, Probie?"

Tony flicked it open, rifling through it.

"Hey! That's Ziva's!"

"There could be something in here, like she knew- _knows_ who did this…"

McGee hadn't missed Tony's inadvertent use of the past tense. He grabbed the diary from Tony. A photo fell out. He gasped.

"What's the matter, Mconcerned?"

"Tony, this is an ultrasound photo."

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, I guess Ziva's got a roll in the oven…"

"Bun. You just did a Ziva."

"Okay, Tony, shut up."

Tony called Gibbs on his cell phone. "Hey, Boss… We found this photo in Ziva's diary… How is she?"

"It doesn't look great… You never know, though. She's tough… What photo?"

"It's an ultrasound photo. That means there's a mini ninja-"

"DiNozzo!"

"Sorry, boss!"

"McGee, can you smack him for me?"

….

Author note: Thank you for the wonderful reviews. I would like some more. I promise all will be explained in the end. Actually, a little before the end, but by the time this fic ends, you will understand.


	4. Testing

Not mine. I mean, I sort of own the plot, but I know this has sort of been done before. I just think I can do it better. No offense.

…

"I just can't believe Ziva's-"

"What, pregnant? Or probably dead?"

"Tony!"

Abby and Tony were arguing in her lab.

"Ziva's not dead! Not until Ducky says there's nothing we can do." Abby started crying. "Oh, Tony, I can't take this again."

"Abby…"

"Right. Focus. I've got to analyze the DNA from her apartment, identify the bullet you guys found, go through Ziva's computer, read through this diary- this seems like we're invading her privacy."

"Well, Abby, I think she would rather we did, because we have to if we're going to find whoever did this to her."

…..

Some might think that it would be dark and wet. However, such things are relative; people who have never known any different wouldn't notice. They _would_ say that the rhythm they had always heard had gone haywire, and then slowed down drastically. It scared them.

He reached out and put a hand on her face. _Don't worry. It'll be okay. _

**An odd thought: What, exactly, is "It"? **

….

Abby and Tony were at it again. **(Whatever "it" is this time. It appears to be different from the previous "It".) **

"Can I _please_ go see Ziva now?"

"Abby, you've got work to do."

"I've got the DNA analyzed, and the bullet, and they're running through every database I can find. McGee's working Ziva's computer, and I can go through the diary later; it's not going anywhere."

"Tell you what; you go visit Ziva, and _I_ will read through this-"

Abby snatched it away and opened it to a random page. "'Tony is driving me crazy. I want to shoot him. Or maybe I'll have Abby do it so there won't be any forensic evidence- she'd like that.'"

Tony snatched the diary back along with Abby's Caf-Pow!. "It does _not_ say that."

Abby grabbed her drink and smacked him on the head.

"Fine. I'll go see how Ziva's doing."

Tony smiled sadly to himself as he opened the diary. "It's ironic- the one time I get a free look into Ziva's life, and I can't even enjoy it."

…

_Blip. Blip. Blip. Blip. _

The only sound in the room was Ziva's heart monitor. Then footsteps as Abby walked in.

"How is she?"

Gibbs and Ducky were startled out of their mutual reverie. Ducky was the first to answer. "Abigail…" He seemed hesitant to continue. Abby cut him off before he could.

"I know what you're going to say: 'We won't know for certain until they finish their testing, and that won't be until-' whenever… 'but I'm afraid it doesn't look very good for our dear Israeli friend. You know, this reminds me of the time I was in Timbuktu and-"

"Abigail, I was never in Timbuktu."

"You know what I mean… What about the baby?"

"It's difficult to say. We don't even know how far along she is. Sometimes in these cases, the baby survives, but we won't know for certain until-"

"Yeah, Duck; we got it."

…..

Author's note: I know, I know, not a lot happening, but at least I'm updating. I gladly welcome predictions/suggestions for future chapters, so please chime in!


	5. Diary

*disclaims*

….

Tony was reading the first entry in Ziva's diary. _This reminds me of when Pacci was murdered, and Kate asked me if I felt like I was invading his privacy… Well, sorry, Ziva, but I kind of need to check if you had any idea who was after you… _

_I never quite understood the concept of writing down one's thoughts, but I figured I might as well try. So here goes something. -_

_Since my return from Somalia, I have felt strange, almost I have been waking up from a dream. Maybe I had to tell myself that it was all just a dream, that it wasn't real, or I would have gone crazy?... -_

_You know what? I might have done so anyway. I'm not entirely certain that I'm awake even now. Maybe I should get Gibbs to hit me and see if that works…_ -

Tony laughed to himself. _Ziva, you could have gotten _me _to hit you, if that's what you wanted. _

_Then again, I highly doubt I could have dreamed up Tony, McGee, and Gibbs rescuing me. That was just crazy… I have to go- Gibbs is saying something about a dead prankster. It must be Halloween week again. At least it's not another serial killer. I hope. -_

Smiling nostalgically, Tony flicked to the next entry.

_I think I'm going to get a cat. I would be able to leave it alone all day, and still get greeted when I get home. I need someone to take care of, anyway. -_

The third entry had been penciled in on the next line.

_Get this. I thought I would get a cat, and I ended up getting two kittens (brother and sister). I know, I know, crazy, right? But they are really cute. He's jet black, yellow eyes, and she looks just like him, except she has this white spot on her chest. I almost want to- m-* -**_+*_*_+*_-=-=*+-=-= _

Ziva's writing and the next couple of pages had apparently become kitten toys, as they had been clawed, bitten, and wrinkled beyond Tony's ability to read them. Then:

_The kittens got hold of my diary, and I completely lost my train of thought. Long story short, his name is Aries, and her name is Scorpio. So that's settled. Bye for now; it's time for work. _

The next several entries were mostly Ziva commenting on the cases they had worked recently, or what her kittens were doing, and at one point some of Ziva's musing on the similarities between her and Kai.

_We both had less-than-stellar childhoods, both became deadly assassins, and ended up getting sick of the whole thing. Except she ended up dead, and I ended up working for NCIS. That's quite a difference. Maybe she's more like Ari- hating the person (or people, in Kai's case) who turned her into a killer… _

_Crap. Now I'm starting to cry again. What's with me lately? I keep getting upset over- well, I guess I'm probably allowed to be upset about Ari. But honestly, I can't figure out why I'm having all these mood slides That's not the right word, is it? Ah, whatever. -_

Tony kept paging through the diary. Mostly, more random musing on more cases, with an occasional cameo by Aries or Scorpio.

Until.

"Hey- I think I got something-" McGee broke off as he realized that no one else was in the office. _Sigh. Abby, Gibbs, and Ducky are at the hospital, Tony's in Abby's lab, and Ziva… _"Okay, Ziva, I'll talk to you, I guess. This ATMcam has a picture of a woman near your apartment right before you got- shot…"

He glanced over at her empty desk, feeling dejected. "Please be okay, Ziva."

McGee started to run a facial recognition Mcprogram.

Ziva lay on a bed, white as the sheet draped over her, her head swathed in bandages. Her long brown hair had been shaved off when she was brought in, leaving her almost unrecognizable.

Ducky was talking quietly with a handful of doctors in the corner; Gibbs and Abby hovered around her bed anxiously.

Finally, after what seemed like eons, Ducky finished his discussion. Abby and Gibbs knew right away from the look on his face that it wasn't good news.

"Just tell it like it is, Duck."

"They're still running a few more tests, but it doesn't look like there's much hope. They're still running some tests, but, Jethro- the bullet went straight through her head. Even with all of our advances in medicine, there's only so much we can do. We'll probably know for certain tomorrow."

Abby raised her hand tentatively. "What about the baby?"

Ducky hesitated a moment before answering. "Ah. Well, that depends on a number of factors. How far along Ziva is, for example, and whether there's any damage… There's a chance, but they haven't tried to check the baby yet; they're about to do that now."

Abby, tears threatening to fall, turned back to Ziva. "You have to be okay, you know that? I don't think I can take this again. And there's your baby, you know. I can't believe you didn't tell me you're pregnant. Mini-Ziva _has_ to be okay. If he or she isn't…"

Abby wiped her eyes before placing her hand on Ziva's slightly swollen stomach. "Be okay, Ziva and Zivette. Be okay."

The cuts on her hands had been cleaned and bandaged, though they still stung horribly. But they were the least of her concerns. _The hospital is too secure for me to break in and finish that bitch off._

She would have to think very carefully on how to avenge him.

Tony stared at the next entry in the diary.

_What is wrong with me? I'm like five months' pregnant, and didn't even notice? Granted, I'm not showing very much, and I've somehow (thankfully) escaped morning sickness, but this doesn't even make any sense. I only noticed when I felt this weird kicking… Really freaked me out. Well, I guess that explains the mood swings- hormones, yes? The doctor didn't believe me at first when I told him I didn't know. I can't believe I've been getting shot at and pack _

_Stuff, Ziva, stuff. _Tony rolled his eyes.

_when I've got a baby to protect… How the heck am I supposed to work? I hate desk work, and if I go on leave now, that wouldn't be good for the team- they just got used to me being around again… I am NOT quitting NCIS after I just got back to it, and anyway I couldn't be unemployed and support a kid, and I don't think I can find another job… Well, things will just have to work themselves out eventually, right? But I have no idea what the team's going to think… -_

The next page was the one with the ultrasound photo taped to it.

_I got an ultrasound today, and now I __**REALLY**__ can't believe that I didn't notice that I'm pregnant. It's twins! Or, should I say, _they_'re twins. Well, anyway, there are two babies hidden in me, and neither of them is trying to get attention from me or anyone else… *()_+ Oops; I had the diary resting on my stomach, and one of the babies kicked, and now there's smears everywhere… Ah, whatever, moving on. I need a new doctor. This one is broken. Just kidding; I know I'm not allowed to kill people. But seriously. I just got done with the ultrasound, and he asked me if I wanted an abortion. I guess clueless male didn't pick up on the fact that I'm really happy? I almost beat him to death with the ultrasound monitor. Finally, I understand what Ducky meant about mother bears… -_

Chuckling at the idea of Ziva beating someone to death with an ultrasound machine, Tony turned the page and realized that there was only one more entry in the diary, dated the night Ziva had been shot.

_I think I will tell my team tomorrow. I mean, they're practically my family. They deserve to know. They'll find out anyway, and it would be better if they found out from me, yes? I know I should have told them earlier, but I didn't. I'm not sure why. Maybe because they would have made a different choice? I may never kn- -_

It stopped there.

Author's note: I know you have a bunch of questions, such as if Ziva will survive, and what about the babies (now you know that there are two of them), and I will do my best to answer them in the next chapters. But I can't promise that _any_body will be alive at the end of the fic.


	6. Love, hate

Id est non meum.

XXXXXXXX

"Look!"

Abby pointed at Ziva. A tiny bump shifted under the sheet.

The entire team was gathered in Ziva's ICU room, waiting to hear her prognosis. Hopes were not high, on the whole.

However…

A small fact of life: It is incredibly tenacious.

"That's a kick! Or a punch! Or a head-butt! Or a butt-butt! Or-"

"Abby!"

Abby realized that everyone was staring at her. Well, everyone, that is, except Ziva and her twins. Well, the twins might well have been staring at her.

Anyway…

"That's got to be good, right? They're alive and kicking... Ziva, wake up! Your babies need you!"

Abby was close to tears. Gibbs put an arm around her. "_I_ need you."

They still stood there what seemed like hours but really was only about ten minutes later, when a resigned-looking doctor came into the room. She sighed to herself, all too acutely reading the team's gazes.

Hating to crush their hopes, she reminded herself that she had no choice. _But at least it's not all bad news. _The babies, at least, stood a fighting chance.

The girl with the black pigtails and the spider web tattoo on her neck turned to the doctor, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The doctor shook her head, answering the unspoken question.

"I'm so sorry."

XXXXXXXX

She stared down the barrel of her rifle at the four men and a woman crowded around _her_. The woman who had executed her brother.

Expecting to feel the same anger she'd felt when she'd first heard the news, she was surprised to feel- sorrow? Yes, indeed. Sorrow for her lost brother. Sorrow for the love they'd shared. And yes, even for the team, who obviously cared about the wrong woman.

She readied herself to take the shot, finger on the trigger.

_Wait a minute- _

_Is she pregnant? _

XXXXXXXX

_Someone touched him. Someone friendly. Not Mommy. Something was wrong with Mommy. He knew it. _

_They both knew it, even though they didn't have the words to say it. _

_At the moment though, she was asleep. _

_Well… _

_He reached over and poked her on the shoulder. She smacked him on the back of his head before kicking at the hand resting on them. _

_Four more hands pressed down on them. Excited, they began high-fiving all of them. Irritated that he had stolen one of hers, she grabbed his hand and flipped him over. _

_Somehow, they had learned a few things from their mother. Ways of interacting with each other, a sense of friendship with the people surrounding them, and even a distant memory, of love such as that between the two of them, and how it had ended tragically. _

XXXXXXXX

She couldn't do it. She just couldn't.

_I want revenge, but that's just- _

Even she couldn't hate someone that much.

XXXXXXXX

Please review!


	7. Can I hurt you?

This isn't mine. All I own is Ziva's twins. And the girl who shot her, I suppose. But she's really not that important to the story.

Also, I am sorry about the delay. My computer got literally like 200 viruses on it, and I had to get it restored (all memory erased), and then reinstall everything…

XXXXXXXX

McGee sighed. "This isn't going to work. I could get all of a half of her face, which didn't get any hits at first, until I expanded the search parameters-"

"Get to the point, McVerbose!"

"-but then I got about five million hits and there's no real way to narrow them down."

McGee met Tony's "Gibbs glare" with one of his own. "I'm sorry, Tony. Really, I am."

Tony sighed. "I know, McKid. It's not your fault."

XXXXXXXX

Down in Labby, the results were _slightly_ more promising.

"What d'ya got, Abs?"

Abby spun around, pigtails flaring out. Anger laced the words she threw across her lab to Gibbs. "Quit trying to act like everything's okay, Gibbs, because it's not. N-O-T. That _is_ how you spell not, right? You know what? It doesn't matter how you spell it, it still is. Well, actually, I suppose it does matter, because otherwise it would be naught, like N-A-U-G-H-T, which is another word for nothing, which is pretty much what I have. I can't get a _who_ -I tried, believe me, Gibbs, I tried everything I can think of- but the closest I can get is a _why_. The DNA from the kitty claws belongs to a woman who, from what I can tell, is the sister of this guy-" she hit a couple of keys on her keyboard, bringing an autopsy headshot up on the screen- "who died-"

"On the Damocles, I know."

"I left the DNA online so it'll alert me if anyone puts it into the system, but that's it."

The Damocles.

He had thought they'd killed that particular demon, but the sword had been hanging over them for months. And it had come crashing down on his favorite Israeli.

Which, come to think of it, wasn't really saying much. He didn't like too many Israelis.

XXXXXXXX

"Um, Boss?"

"Yes, McGee?"

"Is anybody going to-"

"Uh, I don't know if you noticed, but-"

"Did you honestly think I didn't? How could I not notice?"

"Excuse me-"

"Well, you didn't say anything, didn't even look up… didn't pull out your gun, which I'll admit kind of surprised me…"

"Hello, I believe I'm entitled to-"

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "That's because I would get in serious trouble with the director, which is, in fact, the only reason I haven't yet."

"Excuse me!"

Gibbs finally looked at the man standing in front of his desk. "Can I hurt you?"

The man blinked, confused by Gibbs' speciously friendly tone.

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: Yes, I'm ending it there. Can anyone guess who it is? You have met him, I can almost guarantee you.


	8. Sun Chest

I don't own this. I do, however, own two very wonderful kitties who are currently cuddling with me. Oh, great. She just parked herself- right- on- my- keyboard…

Also, this is right after the last section of the last chapter, but it's been like a week since Ziva got shot. She is currently four and a half months pregnant. Savvy? Good.

XXXXXXXX

_Momma, are you there? It's me, your son. I love you. It's nice and safe in here, but I miss the times when you would talk to us and hug us and laugh when we fought… _

_Yes; I punch my sister on occasion. But she usually starts it. Sometimes I think you might know something about annoying siblings. We can't stand them, but we love them anyway. _

_Oh. I have to go. Sis wants me. Not for a fistfight, this time. A hug. Well, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't oblige… _

XXXXXXXX

Mossad Director Eli David glared at Gibbs angrily. By contrast, Gibbs seemed relatively serene as he looked up from his desk at the other man.

"Something you want?"

Eli sighed, twisting his hands in a highly unusual show of uncertainty. Gibbs rolled his eyes, got up from his desk, and walked around it to within five feet of Eli. The seconds stretched out as they stared at each other, eye to expressionless eye.

Gibbs finally broke the silence. "You know, for a minute there, you looked just like Ziva when she couldn't figure out what to say? And did you know that she was trying to explain to me that you'd wanted her to kill her own brother? Of course, that was right after you tried to get _her_ killed…"

He stopped as Eli took a deep breath, as though trying to calm himself, though on the outside he did not require calming of any sort.

"I know, and I was wrong. But now I cannot even apologize to my daughter. What would you have me do, hm? Travel back in time, and undo everything I ever did wrong? I cannot do that, either. I do not blame you for hating what I have done…"

"And yet here you are, and you obviously want something."

XXXXXXXX

Ziva's appearance remained largely unchanged since the team had last seen her. It might have been his imagination, but Gibbs could have sworn that the rounding of her lower body was more pronounced.

It is an odd behavioral pattern that when someone is in the hospital, the longer they have been in there, the more their friends decorate the room. Which means that the grimmer their prognosis is, the cheerier their surroundings become.

An odd assortment of gifts cluttered the room. Vases of cut flowers covered the cabinet and the windowsill, while pots of live ones filled every corner. Abby had brought in two balloons (It's a Boy! and It's a Girl!), which floated cheerily near the ceiling. McGee had blown up a photo from Ziva's latest ultrasound and taped it to the wall above the bed. Gibbs had made the twins a beautiful wooden toy chest, which even he admitted was slightly optimistic, as even in the best of all possible worlds it would be months before the twins could leave the hospital. And anyway, nobody knew where they would go once they left. Of course the team wouldn't just let them go to complete strangers in the foster care system, but none of them were prepared to handle two babies.

In any case, none of the team members were willing to address the topic just yet. They all praised the craftsmanship of the toy chest, jokingly commented that Gibbs didn't have to take his house apart to get it out of the basement, placed a few suggestions as to his next project…

The top of the chest was decorated with a carved depiction of a sun, polished until it seemed to shine. For some odd, unknown reason, every time one of the team walked past it, they had an irresistible urge to rub the carved sun, as if they could actually bring it to life.

Gibbs opened the lid of the toy chest and revealed-

Well, okay, there were a few toys. A pair of teddy bears, one milk chocolate brown, the other several shades lighter. A doll. A box of Weebles. But the majority of the chest was occupied by the remaining gifts the team had brought. Ducky had added several children's books, such as Runaway Bunny, Goodnight Moon, and Where the Wild Things Are. Tony, being Tony, had purchased DVDs of The Lion King, Snow White, and Noah's Ark. Abby had gone on a shopping spree and bought about every cute baby outfit the stores had.

Gibbs sat by the window, pulling a chair over to Ziva's bed. Eli sank into it, his eyes fixed on Ziva's face. He whispered something in Hebrew, too quietly for Gibbs to hear even if he could have understood it. Eli stroked her cheek gently, laid a hand on her belly-

"Oh!"

XXXXXXXX

_Who's there? A new person, I think. _

_Well, hi. Nice to meet you. This is my brother- and no, he's not as crazy as he looks. Well, maybe you can't see him. _

_Hey! _

_Face it, you are crazy. _

_Oh, really. Well you know what else I am? _

_No, what? _

…_Um, actually, I can't think of the word. _

_*Sigh…* _

_Hey, I'm not even born yet. I'm not supposed to know these things. _

_Wow, my brother. Just wow… _

XXXXXXXX

Gibbs had left the room. Eli fished in the toy chest for Runaway Bunny. He pulled the chair even closer to Ziva and read it to her. He liked to think that wherever Ziva was, she could hear him. Or maybe her babies would.

"'If you become a bird and fly away from me,' said his mother, 'I will be a tree that you come home to.'"

For a moment, Eli couldn't continue. The only sounds were Ziva's raspy, ventilator-aided breathing and the constant, steady _blip-blip_ of her heart monitor. Then Eli closed the book and put it back in the chest.

"My beautiful daughter, even if I had nearly gotten you killed, and you rejected me, and started a new life, I would still come and find you. I love you, and I'm so sorry."

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: I know I'm taking my AP English Literature class too seriously when I start thinking about the significance of the symbolism of the chest with the sun on it… But of course, if I were taking my class that seriously, I should be getting better than a C in it…


	9. Worried

Tango hotel India Sierra. India Sierra. Whatever the heck N is, Oscar Tango. MIwishIhadthismemorized India N Echo.

Anyway…

So I know this is mostly filler stuff, but I have to write something besides "three months later".

XXXXXXXX

_Their little world was shrinking. That, or they were getting bigger. _

_Somehow, they understood that they had to grow, that life would be better ex utero. But they had to get ready first. _

_That was the problem. _

_Somehow, he wasn't sure she would be ready. Some inner sense told him that something was wrong with his sister. _

_And that terrified him. _

XXXXXXXX

A nurse walked into Ziva's room, jotting down her unchanged vital signs. Gibbs tracked her movements with his eyes as he sat unmoving by her side. In the month since Eli had arrived, subsequently announcing that he would be relocating to the United States, he and the entire team had taken it in turns to visit Ziva every evening after work.

Someone had tucked one of the teddy bears under Ziva's arm. For all the world, she looked like a three-year-old in bed with a favorite toy. _Or like Kelly when I kissed her goodnight… _

Gibbs' mournful reverie was broken when the nurse addressed him.

"Sir?"

He had told them multiple times that he did not wish to be called "sir". They never learned. It had taken them weeks to get the concept that the entire team plus Eli was Ziva's next of kin. _And Abby wonders why I never go to the doctor…_

"Yeah?"

"We'd like to do a 4-D ultrasound tomorrow to check on the twins' development. Considering Miss David's condition, they'll be delivered by C-Section, so we need to know if they're okay. If they're forming well, then if we need to take them early, we know that's an option. Otherwise, well, not that it's likely that something's wrong, but if there is, then we'll see what's to be done. Is that… agreeable?"

Okay, maybe his reputation _had_ preceded him throughout the hospital.

"I'll check with my team, but that sounds reasonable. I hope nothing's wrong, though. That's the last thing we need."

The nurse nodded. "Don't we all, sir."

XXXXXXXX

The boy sat on a couch, watching some meaningless animated cartoon scroll across the screen. He didn't care about it.

He didn't care about much, really. He'd been through more foster homes than he'd bothered to count. Mostly just people who liked to have someone to control. He didn't like it, and kept moving on, hoping the next time would be better.

It never was.

XXXXXXXX

_I really should tell them. She was -is?- their friend, and they deserve to know, but it's _her _secret… _

_They're her friends. She wouldn't mind if they knew. _

That decided it. He would tell them tomorrow.

XXXXXXX

Author's note: Anybody want to guess who the boy is? Or who decided what? And I need suggestions for the twins' names. I have had quite a few already, but I just can't decide. There are so many cool ones.


	10. No

Still not mine…

Thank you all muchly for your reviews on the previous chapter. It's very nice to wake up in the morning and turn on my computer and see people loving my writing.

Oh, and by the way, I know the boy sounds a lot like Callen, but the wandering mentality just seemed to fit with this story.

Okay, last one. I apologize in advance for any medical inaccuracies. I am not a doctor, but I simply put what makes sense in light of known facts. If anyone has more knowledge in this field, I will welcome your input.

XXXXXXXX

He'd had it.

Officially.

It had taken less time than usual. Only five days.

He left his bed rumpled and unmade. They didn't deserve one last kindness.

Unzipping his backpack, he loaded it with his clothes- not many, just three t-shirts, some socks and underwear, a pair of pants, two pairs of shorts, and pajamas. He was already wearing his tennis shoes, baseball cap, and sweatshirt.

In the kitchen, he added two plastic water bottles, some granola bars, a box of crackers, and an apple. The fifty or so dollars hidden under the couch cushions would suffice for whatever else he needed until Social Services repossessed him.

One last thing.

The blue blanket had been folded neatly under his pillow. He never let anyone see it. They might think it was childish for him to still have his baby blanket when he was ten, and he didn't need to put up with whatever snide comments they would think of.

Impulsively, he unfolded it and ran his finger over the stitching on the corner. His birth mother had given him his life, his treasured blanket, and his name. Hand-stitched, messily, in navy blue thread. He couldn't imagine she was entirely the domestic type. Was that why she had given him up?

A life, a blanket, a name in thread.

_Ari_.

XXXXXXXX

"Ah, here we go."

Two bubbly outlines appeared on the screen. One sucked its thumb while the other appeared to be ad-libbing the Macarena. The technician hit a couple of computer keys, and two rhythmic heartbeats filled the room.

Around the room, smiles broke out. Abby put her arm around McGee enthusiastically. Tony looked like he was racking his brains for whatever movie this was like. Gibbs remembered when he and Shannon had gone in for Kelly's ultrasound, and how happy they had been; he wished Ziva could have seen this.

Eli, on the other hand, was lost in thought about far less cheery happenings; Tali's death and his violent disagreements with Ari were in the forefront of his mind.

Ducky's eyes were glued to the screen and the babies depicted on it, concern on his face. The ultrasound technician seemed to share his views, as she pressed the call button near Ziva's bed.

"Something wrong?"

Gibbs' voice cut through the room. The technician glanced over at him, her voice not entirely hiding her concern for the babies.

"It's probably nothing, but I want to get someone else to look at this; I'm not that experienced."

It seemed like forever, but couldn't possibly have been more than a few minutes before a doctor walked in, a friendly smile on his face. He introduced himself and shook hands all around.

"Let's have a look, shall we?"

The minutes dragged by as the doctor adjusted the ultrasound wand against Ziva's abdomen, then stared at the screen with increasing scrutiny.

Finally, he turned around.

"Baby A, the little boy, appears to be forming well. I'm a little worried about baby B, the little girl, though. I'm not sure her lungs are developing as properly as they should be." He held up a hand, forestalling the concerned exclamations of the entire team. "Now, I wouldn't be too worried. This isn't all that unusual. But if her lungs don't improve, she might have to have a lung transplant when she's born, which will probably be in about two months. If I'm understanding the situation correctly, this is Miss David's first pregnancy?"

"No."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Eli. He shook his head.

"No, it's not."

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: I guess you did kind of see that coming. But anyway, can we try to get this story up to 50 reviews? That would be awesome of you guys.


	11. Flash

Still not mine, but I own Ari (the kid), the baby twins, and the people treating Ziva.

And no, Ari is not Tony's kid. I dislike obsessive Tivafics.

XXXXXXXX

"She had just turned eighteen, and was supposed to be going into the IDF within a couple of months. When she asked me to postpone her enlistment, I… I thought she wanted more time at home to… recover, I guess. It was only a couple of months after Tali died. I let her stay at home, but then when Ari left to back to medical school…"

"You realized that she'd wanted to stay with Ari? Which makes sense, considering he was the only sibling she had left."

Eli nodded. "The two of them had always been close, but after Tali died, well, they hardly ever split up. I'm pretty sure he got her into a bar or something -he was always good at getting what he wanted- and I know Ziva spent more than one night away from home."

"Drowning her sorrows?"

Another nod. "Something like that. I have no idea who the father was, probably just some random guy she picked up."

"And whom Ari probably shot."

Eli and Gibbs turned to look at Tony, who shrugged. "Just saying."

After the doctor had finished the ultrasound, he and the technician had left the team to hear Eli's explanation in private. Abby, Gibbs, and Tony seemed offended that Ziva would have kept such an important secret from them, but Ducky and McGee thought that it made sense, that Ziva would not have wanted to reopen old wounds.

Eli continued. "I had suspected that Ziva was pregnant -she kept running to the bathroom, kept acting like she was hiding something, even looking through a baby name book once. But she never told me… I guess she thought I might be angry at her, or might hurt the baby- I don't know."

He shook himself, as though literally casting off the pall of past evils. "Whatever the reason, she never told me. I'm sure she told Ari -the two of them were too close for her to have kept that secret from him- but never me. And I know _he_ wouldn't have told me, even if she had been okay with it. But anyway, about three months after Tali had died, Ari was supposed to go back to medical school, and he asked me if Ziva could come with him. It seemed a reasonable request, considering the circumstances, and so I agreed, and the two of them left for Edinburgh. The next summer, when they came back, they never mentioned it, so I pretty much put it out of my mind… until now, that is."

"You never wondered what… happened?"

Eli hesitated, tapping a finger on the edge of Ziva's bed. "I had, once or twice, thought to wonder what has become of my grandchild. I even checked the records of the hospitals in the surrounding area, but none of them treated Ziva. Of course, she could have used an alias, or even avoided a hospital altogether…"

"With a med student for a brother, she wouldn't have had to go to a hospital."

"True."

"And you're sure she was pregnant?"

"Very sure. Even if I somehow managed to miss all the signs while she was still at home, she seemed far more… sympathetic than usual when talking with a pregnant woman, or one who had their child with them…"

"I remember I once asked her if she wanted kids; she said she did not have a simple answer."

"I am certain that my daughter wanted to take care of her child, but, well, considering everything, she probably did the right thing for the baby by giving him up."

"Unless the baby died."

Eli hesitated, then shrugged. "I hope not, and I don't think so, anyway. I think she would have told me about the baby if she wasn't still protecting it."

XXXXXXXX

He sat on a bench, munching on a granola bar as he watched the people go by. They all seemed to be going somewhere in a hurry. As they walked past, never paying any attention to him, he sorted them into categories. The teenagers covered in ink and metal, ipods plugged into their ears; the mother with the baby in the stroller, trying to stop her older kid from asking the teenagers why they had so many piercings; the father who seemed to be paying more attention to the young, hot female than to his own wife and children; the stray cat who was carrying a dead mouse back to its den for its young.

Finishing the food, he shoved the wrapper into a nearby trash can and stood up. Stretched. Resumed walking down the road.

The sun was starting to set at the end of the road when a police car pulled over next to him. _It's about time somebody noticed. _

Walking over to the car, he didn't even bother to greet the officer.

"Yep. I'm running away. You should probably call social services so they will find me a new home. Do you want any more information, or should I just get in the car?"

The officer seemed rather taken aback at Ari's forthrightness. He wasn't surprised. Adults never seemed to understand how he thought. They acted like somehow he was still three years old.

He sighed and got into the car. _Let's see how long it takes this time. _

XXXXXXXX

_Ziva held the tiny bundle in her arms, unwilling to let go. He was so adorable, so small, so fragile. _

"_Ziva?" _

_She looked up at her brother. Tears streamed down her cheeks, landing on the blanket Ari had bought. _

"_We have to go." _

_She nodded, still reluctant. "I'm still not sure this is the right thing." _

_Ari sat on the bed next to her, putting his arms around her and her baby son. "You don't have to, you know. I would help you take care of him." _

_Ziva shook her head. "We can't take care of him ourselves. I have to go into the army, then Mossad, and you are supposed to infiltrate who-knows-what after med school…" _

_Ari couldn't argue with her. She had to do what was best for her baby. He just wished that he could somehow magically fix her pain. _

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: 50 reviews, 10,000 hits? You guys are awesome!


	12. Broken Heart

I do not own NCIS. I also am not in possession of knowledge as to who precisely is the father of the twins. It just doesn't seem worth the time it would take to figure that out. Ironically, I'm reading The Scarlet Letter at the moment. Interesting combination.

XXXXXXXX

_Ziva still held her precious bundle against her chest when Ari pulled over near the hospital. The baby boy fussed in his sleep, waving his hands in the air. Ziva whispered something to him in Hebrew, as if trying to reassure him that she was doing this because she loved him. _

_Ari turned the car off and to his sister. "You absolutely sure about this?" Ziva looked up at him, eyes swimming, then nodded. Ari hugged her for a moment. _

"_Can you?" _

_Ari stared at her as she held out the blanket-wrapped infant. _

"_I don't think I can just walk in there and…" Tears threatened to fall again. _

_Kissing her on the cheek, Ari gently took his nephew in his arms. As he did so, part of the blanket fell away. He tucked it back in, then stopped as he saw Ziva's stitching. He raised his eyebrows, a finger on the messy thread. _

_Ziva shrugged. "I wanted him to have a name. And it's not like anybody would get him confused with you, you know." _

_She kissed her fingers and pressed them to her son's cheek. _

"_Goodbye, my sweet Ari." _

XXXXXXXX

"You find anything yet, McSearching?"

McGee rolled his eyes, annoyed. "I told you, no. Abby's more likely to have something with that DNA search, so why don't you go check with her?"

"I don't want to run into Gibbs and have to tell him that we have nothing."

"How about Gibbs' hand runs into you because you have nothing?"

Tony froze. McGee smirked at him. "Does Abby have anything?"

Gibbs walked over to his desk and plunked his coffee down near his computer, which appeared to be terminally crashing.

"No, not yet. And Tony, you are going to go help her with that."

Tony looked like he was going to argue, but decided better of it.

XXXXXXXX

Caf-Pow! in hand, Tony walked through the door to Abby's lab. "Gibbs said you wanted help?"

Abby turned to face him, her fingers still flying over the keyboard. Tony hesitated.

"Well, actually, he said I was going to go help you with… whatever it is you're doing."

A couple of keystrokes later, Abby got up, grabbed Tony's arm, and dragged him over to her computer.

"I'm running Ziva's DNA through foster care systems, trying to find a partial match, like, for instance, one you would find if she had a kid and gave it up. They usually keep records of each kid, so we should be able to find her baby if he or she ended up in foster care."

"Any luck yet?"

Abby sighed. "Well, not in the U.S. databases, but considering she was in Great Britain at the time, I've been checking their records. Of course, she could have given the baby to someone specific, in which case MiniZiva might not be in the system, but this is me, going with my best guess, trying to find Ziva's kid. I think we owe her that much."

"Actually, I've been thinking about that."

"How so?"

"Well, if the kid's happy, then we might just be disrupting that, and does the kid really deserve to have that happen? It might be better for him or her if we just let it go…"

"And if 'the kid' is not okay? We should at least check."

"Abby?"

She turned to look at him.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

Abby hesitated, for once in her life showing indecision.

"I'm adopted."

Tony was startled. "How come you never mentioned this?"

Shrugging, she took a moment to reply. "I only found out a couple of months ago. I guess I didn't want to talk about it because we were focused on helping Ziva, but…" She shook her head, paused, and continued in a stronger voice. "I've been trying to figure out who my biological family is, and why they gave me up, but no dice yet. I want to know. And it's not like I don't love my brother, and my parents were great, but I still want to know where I came from. I think anybody would."

XXXXXXXX

_Another kick. _

_Ziva pressed one hand to her precious bulge, feeling her children move inside her. She was seated in the stopped elevator, taking a moment to relax in the dark quiet. "I love you, little ones. Don't worry. Mommy's going to take care of you." _

_She wasn't sure why she hadn't told her team as soon as she found out about the babies. They deserved to know. They were her best (okay, only) friends. _

_They deserved to know she'd had a son once. _

_She still remembered the way baby Ari had felt in her arms right before her brother had taken him away. The two of them had never talked about that day, just like they'd never talked about their father, about his mother's death, about what was bothering him… She hadn't even managed to notice until she'd had to execute him. _

_Tears streamed down her cheeks as she thought about her brother, her sister, her mother, her brother's mother, her son, her friends… _

I hope little Ari's not dead. He can't be dead. He can't be.

_Worse than her longing for her baby son was the thought that if she and Ari had run away with him, she might still have her brother. _I miss him so much…

_Finally, she got up, adjusting her sweatshirt so her babies were hidden. She flicked the power switch on the elevator. _

And once again, it is time to put this mask on, because I can't handle what's underneath.

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: I hope this isn't too confusing. Let me know if you need anything clarified. I treasure your reviews.


	13. Dreams

Not mine…

So, if you guys have suggestions as to what will happen, I will gladly welcome them. I highly value your suggestions and comments.

XXXXXXXX

Ari lay on a park bench, his blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His eyes wandered uneasily under their lids, as though they resented the suggestion that just because Ari had decided to sleep, which was perfectly reasonable considering the fact that it was the middle of the night, they ought to as well.

Freakish phantasms played out in the depths of his mind, as they so often did. He never could understand why. Sometimes he wondered if in the back of his mind he could tell what had happened to his biological family, but he rejected that idea every time it butted in. That was just too weird, and he didn't want to think that his family was as violent as his nightmares would have him believe.

Without warning, they all fell completely away. And in their place-

_Two babies lay side by side in hospital beds. The smaller one was covered in medical equipment, tubes in her mouth, wires on her chest. And the other- _

_Bidden by some unknown instinct, he picked up the baby boy, who was dressed in a light blue onsie. The exact same shade as Ari's blanket. Somehow, Ari knew exactly who the baby was. _

My brother.

As the dream faded away, he could hear a baby crying.

XXXXXXXX

"I got something!"

Abby, a smile on her face, glanced around her lab.

"Come on, Gibbs, where are you? You're supposed to know as soon as I've found something."

Picking up her phone, she punched the button for Gibbs' desk phone. He answered it with a "Yeah, Abs?" almost immediately.

"I found Ziva's kid, and _you_ aren't down here. Your track record needs to be upheld, right? Maybe you're slowing down in your old age."

"Actually, McGee just tracked him down."

"_WHAT?" _

"Yep."

"I hate it when this happens! How'd he manage that?"

"He checked records of hospital drop-offs at the time for any babies that looked Middle Eastern, then did a bunch of computer things that I don't care about."

Abby sighed. "I think I'm going to blow up your house and make all forensic evidence point straight to McGee. I spent _ages_ working on the DNA analysis and search-"

The phone beeped as Gibbs cut her off.

XXXXXXXX

Upstairs, Tony laughed to himself as he listened to Abby's tirade, clearly audible all the way from Gibbs' desk. _She must really be ticked. _

Several minutes later, Ducky and Abby walked in, the latter clearly not yet pacified.

"Abby informs me you found Ziva's child."

"Well, almost."

Everyone turned to look at McGee, who hit a couple of keys on his keyboard and bringing several photos and documents up on the plasma.

"He was born ten years ago, which lines up with Eli's information about Ziva's pregnancy. Abby's confirmed that his DNA matches Ziva's. And, get this, his name's Ari."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Well, all things considered, that's not really surprising."

"No, it's not." Gibbs' mind automatically flashed back to the night Ziva killed her brother Ari. He concealed from the team the wave of sympathy for his Israeli friend which crashed over him. _The least we can do for her is take care of her children. __All__ of them. _

McGee's voice broke through his reverie. "He's gone through about twenty foster homes throughout Great Britain, which is something of a record. His last one reported him missing a couple of days ago. Apparently, he runs away a lot. Nobody's seen him since."

"Well."

McGee looked up at Gibbs, who was giving him that "look". "Um, Boss?" Gibbs raised his eyebrows. The younger agent was slightly nonplussed. "What do you want me to-"

"Find the kid!"

"Ahm, okay."

McGee's fingers hovered over the keyboard as he hesitated, unsure of how to begin. _Okay, let's try facial recognition on traffic and ATM cameras. _

XXXXXXXX

_White. _

_Pure white. _

_Silence. _

Ziva.

_It took her a minute to realize that the name belonged to her. And the voice… _

I know that voice. I _loved_ that voice. That voice belonged to-

_She sat up, realizing as she did so that she was lying on some sort of flat surface. It was still white, just like her surroundings. _

_Strong yet gentle arms wrapped themselves around her. Startled for a moment, she stretched her head around and found herself staring into her brother's eyes. _

Ari.

_She discovered that she had a hand when she instinctively reached up and touched him on the cheek. She thought he might be crying. _

Am I dead, Ari?

_He shook his head, kissing her fingers. _

Not yet. You have one last task on earth, but then yes, you will be.

_Oddly, she felt almost glad to learn that. She'd missed her brother so much, and- _

What about Tali? And my mo-

They're here, but you cannot see them yet. Do not worry, baby sister. All will be well. And when your children can be without you, then it will be time for you to stay here, and we will be together forever.

Good.

_She tucked her head under his chin, wanting to be as close to him as possible. _

I don't want to leave you, Ari, but I know I need to take care of my children.

I'll be here when it is time.

I know. I missed you, my brother. I'm so sorry-

_He pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her. _

Shh. It's okay, little one. Here, all is forgiven.

I love you.

XXXXXXXX

Eli laid a hand on the wooden chest, right in the center of the sun. _Light. Brilliance. Ziva. _

Opening the chest, he tucked something small inside. A tiny rag doll with black yarn braids, red stitched lips, and brown button eyes.

He'd confiscated it from Ziva right after her mother died, with the idea that it was time for her to grow up and forget such childhood comforts as her favorite doll. He'd intended to get rid of it, but for some reason, he'd instead tucked it in the back of a drawer and forgotten about it. And now…

_I know I can't make everything right, my daughter, but I'm trying. _

_I'm trying. _

XXXXXXXX


	14. Now

I do not own this. I do not own this. I do not own this. I do not own this. Got it? Good. Because I think four times should be enough.

So tell me, did I overdo the previous chapter? I know it's kind of weird, but I like it, mostly. The thing is, I like to write really late at night, because that's when inspiration strikes, but then if I stop writing, I forget where I am, and if I keep writing, I end up with a really weird chapter. Anyway…

XXXXXXXX

Ari sat on the park bench which had been his home for longer than half of his official ones. _Okay, they're going to find me in three… two… one… half… one quarter… _

Five minutes later, a police car pulled up.

"Are you Ari?"

He nodded and walked over, backpack in hand. When directed, he got into the back of the police car. _This is getting repetitive. I wouldn't mind a little variety now and then… _

He decided not to mention to the officer that she had badly mispronounced his name. Nobody ever got it right.

XXXXXXXX

Several confusing hours later, Ari sat on a plane, his backpack on his lap, watching the light play over the water below. The in-flight movie played across the screen in front of him, but he barely noticed. What he did notice was stupid- something about some family that hadn't paid their insurance, so none of them were allowed to drive, and the mother and her friend were stuck at some park eating out of the vending machine, while the father tried to raise the money for the insurance by selling "therapeutic" bee stings. Which was complete rubbish.

Ari had tried living out of vending machines, and it wasn't nearly as bad as they made it out to be. And he vividly remembered getting stung by a bee. It was the only time in his life he'd cried, except for probably when he had been a baby, and he'd still been only two years old.

He drifted into sleep as the hours went by, waking up to hear an announcement over the speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our approach to Regan National Airport. Please fasten your seatbelts…"

Ari tuned the voice out and focused on making sure that all his belongings were in his backpack. There weren't that many of them; the police had given him a passport and boarding pass before sending him on his way. _Nope. They're _still _not interested in me. They're just doing their job. _

Forty-five minutes later, he sat on another bench, still holding his backpack. Luggage-bearing crowds streamed past, some rushing to the terminals before they were late for their flights, others leaving for their cars or to continue their journeys elsewhere. Somehow, he was vividly reminded of the move _Planes, Trains, and Automobiles_, which he had seen in one of his more recent foster homes.

A man with silver hair and a gun at his hip walked up, smiling at him.

"Hi."

"You're the one I'm supposed to meet."

Gibbs was slightly startled by the boy's formal, adult attitude. _Grown up too fast, just like his mother and uncle. Well, at least we found him. He needs help. _

XXXXXXXX

Ari slept in a chair in Ziva's room, blanket around his shoulders, teddy bear from the chest under his arm. When he was sure everyone was gone, he "woke up" and looked around.

_I finally get to meet my mother, and I'll still never get to talk to her. _

The disappointment had been mitigated somewhat when he met his mother's father and friends, but he still couldn't help but wonder why she had never tried to track him down. _It can't have been that hard; her friends found me in a couple of days. Why did she never… _

At least he had the younger siblings he'd always wanted.

On that note, he laid his hands on Ziva's baby bump, feeling the fluttering sensation of life within her. _Hello, little one. Are you my sister or my brother? I'm sorry, but I can't tell you apart from out here. _

XXXXXXXX

Eli and Abby didn't acknowledge the nurse as she walked into the room and checked the vital signs of the three patients. The entire team had gotten used to the medical staff keeping an eye on their friend. It had taken a while to break their usual habit of helicoptering an injured teammate and admit that the doctors and nurses would take care of Ziva.

They did, however, notice that the nurse took longer than usual to monitor the twins' vital stats.

"What is wrong?"

Eli's voice broke through the silence which forever permeated the room, despite the team's attempts to break it with music or their voices. Death seemed to have already taken hold, quashing all attempts to defy it with demonstrations of happiness.

The nurse, her face pale, pressed the call button and started dashing around the room, pressing buttons and disconnecting wires in ways that nobody else understood. She seemed agitated, worried, which was highly unusual for her; she had been treating Ziva for most of the two months during which she had been in the hospital, and never let her friendly smile fall.

Until now.

As doctors and nurses rushed into the room, Eli and Abby stood up, trying to get out of the way. Abby, though, also tried to make heads and tails of what was happening.

"What's wrong?"

One of the doctors turned towards her as the others began to wheel Ziva out of the door.

"Baby B's heart rate is dropping. We need to deliver them, now."

Abby gasped and followed Ziva out the door.

"But she's only seven months along! They're not old enough to-"

"We don't have a choice! We have to take them, now!"

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: I know, I'm so mean, aren't I? You should see these movies I'm planning on making- one of them could easily defeat Inception in mean cliffhanger endings. But anyway, moving on…


	15. No More Waiting

*sigh* Not mine. I can't wait until I write my own book and can avoid having to put a disclaimer at the start of every chapter. Well, until such day as that happens, I hope you will excuse my creativity.

Furthermore, I cannot be held responsible or liable in any way for damage to your computer(s) caused by you crying on them, even if it is my fault.

XXXXXXXX

Waiting room.

Apt name, that.

It seemed an eternity the team sat in the waiting room. The clock on the wall ticked incessantly, driving everyone crazy.

Ari sat on a hard plastic chair, kicking his feet at the ground. There was little else to do. He was far too nervous and anxious to read one of the nearby magazines, or to even notice whatever program played across a TV screen mounted in a corner.

"What's taking so long? It can't take forever to deliver two kids, can it? I know it's not as easy as it might seem, but shouldn't we have heard something by now? Come on…"

Tony trailed off as Gibbs glared at him. He sighed.

"I know; I'm just worried about the kids."

Gibbs nodded.

"Aren't we all, Tony; aren't we all."

XXXXXXXX

Eli stood in a corner of the operating room, watching the surgeon deliver the twins. _Please be okay. Please be okay. _

A feeble cry broke through the tense silence, slowly growing in strength as the baby's lungs gained compliance. Eli could see him kicking and thrashing about, upset at the disruption in his life. _Ah, young one. I am sorry about this, but your sister's in trouble. _

Indeed she was.

Eli had no idea what happened next, but he found himself holding a towel-wrapped baby boy while everyone else in the room crowded around Ziva, until the surgeon finally lifted a tiny, silent infant away from Ziva and laid her on a nearby table.

Eli cradled the boy in his arms as he watched the doctors attempt to resuscitate the tiny girl. Before he could see any more, one of the nurses took the little boy from his arms and walked out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to take him to the NICU. You'd better come, too."

Eli followed her through the door, glancing over his shoulder at his granddaughter before the door swung shut.

"What about her?"

"They'll take care of her. At the moment, we should probably get this little guy taken care of."

XXXXXXXX

The utter silence of the waiting room was abruptly shattered when Eli pushed both doors open at once, slamming them into the walls next to them. Gibbs stood up and walked over to him.

"What happened?"

Eli sighed and hesitated, glancing at Ari, then decided that the boy deserved to know, too.

"The boy is in the NICU, and they think he's going to be okay. But they had to put the little girl on a ventilator, and they're not giving her good odds. And Ziva lost so much blood during the C-section that she went into cardiac arrest. We… decided against reviving her."

The air went out of the room.

Even though they had all understood that such an outcome was inevitable, the team seemed shocked. Abby put her hands to her mouth, tears starting to her eyes.

"Can I-" Gibbs' voice broke before he continued. "Can I see her?"

XXXXXXXX

In the hospital morgue, Ziva lay in a drawer with a sheet over her body. Just like every other body they'd had to handle.

They could still, despite months of semi-healing, see the wound in her forehead, gut-wrenchingly similar to Kate's, though it reminded Gibbs more of the body of a man on a concrete floor, blood pooling around his head and a skeletal wooden boat watching.

Eli pressed his fingers to his lips and touched them to Ziva's cheek, unshed tears gleaming in his eyes. "Oh, Ziva," he whispered, barely audible even in the near-silence of the room, "What have I done?"

Abby walked over to him and enveloped him in one of her specialty hugs. Eli was startled, as if he had never been hugged before. _Which is actually pretty much the case._

XXXXXXXX

Gibbs stood in the NICU, watching Ziva's son sleep. The little boy seemed peaceful and happy, for the moment at least. He was dressed in a disposable diaper and a thin t-shirt, which _almost_ concealed how tiny and young he was.

It had taken some time for the baby to settle down, as though he was vehemently protesting his too-early egress from his mother.

Gibbs couldn't help but wonder if somehow he also worried about his twin, if he understood how fragile her grasp on life was.

She lay nearby, stable for the moment, ventilator tube down her throat, plastic bubble around her. Her skin was freakishly pale; she might have died already if not for the constant _beep-beep_ of the machines monitoring her weak vital signs.

Gibbs took _Goodnight Moon_ from under his arm and quietly read it to them, careful not to speak too loudly for preemie ears.

"Good night moon, goodnight room, goodnight noise, goodnight toys…"

XXXXXXXX

Hours later, Gibbs stood in his basement, working on a new project. _Here I am, making these, and I don't even know if they're going to end up using them. Or even know if they're still going to be a "they". _

Two oblong boards lay on his work table. Both were smooth as of yet, but had pencil drawings on them to indicate Gibbs' plans to carve them- a blank rectangle for a nameplate on each, a crescent moon on one, five stars on the other- four five-pointed, and, right underneath the nameplate, a smaller, six-pointed one.

XXXXXXXX

Ari stood at the window of the NICU, wishing he could go inside and comfort his siblings.

_Stupid rules. I know the whole "high-risk-of-infection" thing, but I just want to see them closer up. Is that so much to ask for? _

His baby brother raised one hand in the air and waved it about. Ari thought he might be searching for a familiar face.

_She's right next to you, kid. And I don't think there's much you can do to help her. _

XXXXXXXX


	16. Charlotte and Loss

Still not mine…

Okay, guys, seriously? This story is not about Ziva dying. It's about her team and father and children living. I spend a year writing a story, and the effect seems to be the same as it would be if I just put "Ziva died. The End." Maybe I'll just do that next time.

Okay, okay. I'm done whining. But seriously, guys, you could at least say something else in your reviews, like "I wonder what Gibbs is making", or "I'm laughing my head off imagining the look on Eli's face when Abby hugs him", or something like that, instead of being shocked that Ziva died when you knew that was going to happen already, or saying that you can't possibly read any more.

XXXXXXXX

The little girl poked at the ventilator tube, seemingly annoyed by her inability to suck her thumb.

"Sorry, kid, but your lungs can't function without it, so you're going to have to deal with it. I'll admit I probably wouldn't like it if I had tubes all over my face, but it won't be for too long, I promise. They're going to find you some better lungs soon, okay? Good. And I'll even concede that under that mass of tubes and wires, you're probably just as pretty as your mom."

"Why are you talking to the baby? You're supposed to be kind of quiet in here."

Tony jumped as McGee accosted him from less than a foot away.

"You do that again, McNinja, and I'll Gibbsslap your computer so hard it'll need to get… whatever the heck it is you do when your computer gets a concussion."

McGee rolled his eyes and walked over to the baby boy, who slept quietly.

"Hey, there. You've got to be tough and strong, okay? You need to get out of the hospital soon and be okay. And don't worry; your sister's going to be fine. And you know what? You've got to be her protective twin brother, because she's going to be so pretty all the guys are going to be chasing her, and you are required to scare them off."

"No offense, McBrother, but I think Ari will probably take over that department."

McGee thought about it, then nodded.

They looked back and forth between the two babies. Tony sighed.

"Poor girl. She's never going to have a boyfriend."

XXXXXXX

_Ziva opened her eyes to reveal a grassy field, with flowers dotting it here and there. The blue sky overhead was utterly cloudless, beautifully serene. _

_She stood up, feeling like she could run a marathon and not be winded. Glancing down at herself, she realized that she seemed to have been rewound until she was twelve or so, young and fit. _

_Cresting a nearby hill, she noticed a sparkling stream at the bottom. Laughing, she ran towards it, arms outstretched. _

_The water splashed around her feet, soaking her and the white robe she wore. Flinging herself onto her back, she closed her eyes, the happiest she'd ever been. _

_Normally, the splashes that started off in the distance and were getting closer and louder would have put her on alert, would have made her think she was under attack, but somehow, she couldn't make herself be frightened. _

Ziva!

_She stood up, overbalanced, and would have fallen forward on her face into the water if a strong arm had not reached out and caught her at the last moment. She looked up- _

Ari!

_Her brother looked exactly like he had on what was perhaps the happiest day of her life, when the two of them and Tali had gone to the beach and stayed for hours, splashing each other, building sand castles, napping on the warm sand, watching the sun set… _

_Ari smiled, reached down, and scooped up their baby sister, handing her to Ziva. She giggled and kissed the little girl's cheek, smiling so broadly she thought her cheeks might split. Ari flung his arms around them both, inadvertently pushing them past their balance point. All three splashed down into the water and came up sputtering. _

_Laughing hysterically through gasping for air, Ziva skimmed her hand over the water, splashing her siblings. They responded in kind, grinning. _

_Done play-fighting, they lay in the field, sunning themselves. Ziva caught her brother's eyes, reciprocating the unspeakable love she saw there. _

_As they lay there, she _finally _left behind the guilt she'd been carrying for more than four years, poisoning what little happiness she could find. _

_She was at peace. _

XXXXXXXX

An alarm cut through the NICU. Abby looked up from the little boy she'd been teasing with the tip of her finger.

Doctors rushed into the room and over to one of the nearby beds. Abby gasped as she realized that one of the other babies was in serious trouble. Someone shoved her out of the door.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you have to leave."

Abby complied, concerned. As she left, she noticed a couple standing near the sick baby, tears streaming down their cheeks.

Her own soon joined them.

XXXXXXXX

Ari smiled at the little girl who sat at the table next to him. It was time for lunch. A bag of chips, an apple, chocolate milk, and some M&Ms.

She waved back with the typical childlike friendliness.

"Hi."

He beckoned her over, wanting to talk to someone who was remotely close to his own age. He liked the team, but they were still adults. Adults never made much sense.

The girl opened a plastic container of pudding and spooned it into her mouth, painting her face with it. Ari grinned and shook his head. He had never managed to be so carefree.

He finished eating as the little girl told him everything about her- her name was Charlotte, she was actually seven, her best friend in school was named Tina, her teacher was Mrs. Charles, she really liked that because Charles was a lot like Charlotte, her favorite color was pink, she was really excited because she had a new brother, but upset because she wasn't allowed to see him, and she was worried because her parents had said that he was sick.

Ari wanted to tell her about his own siblings, and how they were doing, but he found it hard to interrupt her happy monologue. Eventually, he gave up and simply enjoyed listening to her happiness. It was nice to know that there were kids who could be happier than him.

XXXXXXXX

The team sat in the waiting room, unable to do anything since they had been kicked out of the NICU. Abby had her head bowed and was praying under her breath.

Ari walked in, about to tell the team about his new friend, but stopped with his mouth open when he noticed how quiet everyone was. Instead, he sat down just as a man and a woman came in, crying.

They stood together, arms around each other, oblivious to the world around them.

Finally, two people who looked like they worked at the hospital walked in. They went over to the anguished couple and drew them away into a corner.

A few indistinct whispers reached the team's ears. Ari caught the word "sorry". A horrible suspicion washed over him.

The door to the cafeteria opened and Charlotte walked in. The friendly smile on her face faltered as she noticed the people in the corner crying. She ran over.

"Mommy? What's wrong-?"

Ari felt like he'd been punched in the stomach as he realized what had happened to Charlotte's brother.

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: … Okay, you might have a point about the amount of death in this story. I do apologize. But I promise you it's going to get happier. Eventually. The next few updates might take a while due to the fact that I will be travelling for the next week and a bit for Thanksgiving. Anyway, this is Shestrun, signing off…


	17. Death Becomes Life

Not mine, but I own Charlotte, her family, Ari, the twins, and the medical staff…

XXXXXXXX

Okay, I'm sorry I cranked at you the past chapter. It's just that I have put a lot of thought into this story, and it's kind of annoying to have it seem like nobody notices.

XXXXXXXX

The lights were too bright.

At least, that's what he decided the problem was.

If he'd been honest with himself, he would have admitted he was worried about his other half.

She was close by, but he couldn't reach over and touch her like he'd been able to do every day of their lives before now. He missed their kickboxing duels.

There were _people_ by her bed. Why were they there? She needed to rest, and they couldn't see each other with all the people in the way.

His hopes that they would soon leave were quashed when they began to do all kinds of weird things to the objects surrounding his sister. To his horror, they subsequently began to take her _away_, out of the room, out of his sight.

Anguished at being separated, he began to wail hysterically.

_My sister! _

XXXXXXXX

Once again they were in the waiting room.

They were starting to hate that room.

Passionately.

Ari didn't get what was going on. The doctors had sort of explained to him that his baby sister was in surgery again, something about making her lungs better. That was good, but he didn't understand what Charlotte's dead brother had to do with it.

The aforementioned girl and her parents were in the room, too. He didn't understand that, either. But other people never made much sense, really. They were strange.

The utter and complete silence of the room was broken by Gibbs' voice.

"You okay?"

Ari started, abruptly jolted out of his reverie. He wasn't sure whether he was surprised or not that an hour and a half had gone by while they had been sitting there.

"What?"

"I said, are you okay?"

Ari considered the question for a moment. He turned his head from ear to ear indecisively. "I don't know. I wish I'd been able to meet my mother while she was still alive, but I know that can't happen. I- I'm just glad I can take care of my siblings." He stole a glance at Charlotte, who clutched a baby doll like her life depended on it. She was sitting on her mother's lap; the woman looked like she was perilously close to strangling her one remaining offspring.

Gibbs nodded. "Siblings are special. That's-" he broke off in a laugh- "the one thing I've managed to learn watching from the outside." He handed Ari a blue and silver gift bag.

"What's this?"

"A present. Open it."

Ari, as directed, performed the incredibly complex series of maneuvers required to open the gift bag and remove the baseball cap inside. He grinned and plopped it on his head, then frowned, nonplussed, and poked a finger through each of the holes through the cloth, one in the head, the other in the bill.

"I am wondering why there are bullet holes in my hat."

Gibbs smiled nostalgically, remembering Ziva's first day on the team. "You remind me of your mother. That's almost exactly what she said when I made her wear that hat when she'd just joined my team for the first time."

"So why did you give her a hat that you'd used for target practice? For that matter, why were you using it for target practice in the first place?"

Gibbs was once again startled by the child's powers of perception. "Well, that was originally DiNozzo's hat, but then I taped it to his shooting range target- he was supposed to miss it."

"His aim needs help."

"Well, it _has_ gotten better over the course of the years since then, but… Yeah, you're right. It does."

Tony glared at them from semi-across the room, but before he could say anything, the door flew open. The entire team sprang to its collective feet when a doctor walked through the doors. He looked like he wanted to tell them what was going on, but couldn't find the right words.

"Is she okay?" Abby's face bore a countenance which seemed to epitomize concern.

"Well, the transplant seems to have been successful, at least thus far, but…"

"Spill it out, will you? What happened to my sister?"

The doctor hesitated and exchanged a glance with Gibbs, who apparently gave his approval for the man to inform Ari of the situation, as he relented and continued.

"She had some slight brain hemorrhaging during the surgery. I say _slight_, and we managed to get it under control fairly quickly, but there's no way to know right now how well she'll recover."

_More trouble. _Gibbs sighed. _Is this ever going to be over? _

XXXXXXXX

The room was even quieter than usual. No more beeping, no more mechanical whirring.

No more Ziva.

The light from the door spilled into the room, landing on the toy chest which no one had the heart to move. For whatever reason , the hospital didn't seem to need Ziva's room back just yet.

Gibbs shut the door, plunging the room into darkness as it _snapped_ shut. For a moment, he just stood there in the dark and quiet, calming himself.

Finally, he walked over to the window and pulled up the blinds to reveal a white full moon. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed again the sun on the toy chest. In the eerie moonlight, it looked like it was bleached out.

Impulsively, he laid the still-blank nameplates on the chest. One on each side.

He sank to the floor and wrapped his arms around his legs.

XXXXXXXX

"They need names."

"They need parents, they need more medical attention…"

Abby rolled her eyes at Tony. "I was just thinking that maybe we can actually do something for these kids, instead of just standing around and waiting for them to get better."

"What- you have a suggestion for names? I wish we'd known what Ziva wanted to name them…"

"Maybe she had a baby names book somewhere."

"We'd have to check her apartment."

They looked at each other. None of them had gone back to Ziva's apartment after they'd collected what evidence they could. McGee had taken possession of the houseplants, and Aries and Scorpio had taken up residence in Gibbs' basement until further notice. Other than for those brief trips, the team hadn't had the heart to see the place where their friend had lived, and essentially died. It was as if they thought that, somehow, Ziva still lived in her apartment, and that if they went back, they would break the spell.

_Well, fantasies must end. Time to go. _

XXXXXXXX

On the second day of Christmas, the two turtle doves finally resolved their identity crises.


	18. Confusion

Author's note: So, I've been holding back somewhat from posting new chapters because I wanted to post something for each of the twelve days of Christmas… enjoy. Also, these scenes pretty much take place all at the same time, in case you're confused.

XXXXXXXX

She was back.

That was good.

He wasn't quite so sure about the big person standing over him, touching his hand.

"Hey, little guy- you remember me? I'm Tony. I'm your friend."

He yawned. Time for a nap.

XXXXXXXX

The door creaked open to reveal an apartment casually cluttered, as if Ziva had merely gone out for her daily run. A rumpled blanket covered in cat hair lay across the couch. A black winter coat had been sloppily across the back of a chair left under a lamp; apparently Ziva had stood on said chair to change a light bulb. A single tennis shoe on its side propped open the door to a closet.

McGee immediately noticed something he'd never seen before. "Hey, come here and look at this."

Abby and Eli came there and looked at that. McGee was holding a framed photo. A baby lay on a bed, swathed in a pink blanket. She looked like she was about to punch the camera. Next to her, a young boy lay on his stomach, one arm wrapped protectively around the baby.

"Is that-" Abby asked.

Eli nodded, staring at the photo with a faraway look in his eyes. "Yes. My children. Ari was so happy to have a sister…"

McGee smiled. "Yeah, I've been there. Playmate, cuddle buddy, best friend…"

"Victim."

The two men turned to stare incredulously at Abby. McGee sighed and shook his head.

"I feel so sorry for your little brother."

They walked into Ziva's bedroom, skirting a patch of carpet that, though it had been cleaned of any visible stains, they still saw as blood red. Some scars just never healed.

The room was as comfily cluttered as the rest of the apartment; the blankets on the bed had obviously been slept in, a hairbrush lay on the floor, and several books were out of place on the now-dusty shelves. McGee silently reached over and closed one, straightening the crumpled pages before he tucked it back in place.

Abby scanned the shelves quickly. No baby name books, but there was something she recognized. A small red-polished wooden box. She lifted it down, set it on the bed, and moved pieces of it around, revealing a hidden key, which she used to open it.

There wasn't much in there, as there couldn't be in a box that size. Another key. A piece of paper with three words written on it.

_The Twilight Zone. _

XXXXXXXX

_Finally. _

Ari teasingly grabbed his brother's cloth-covered foot, making the small baby giggle.

"I love you too."

Although still smaller than he should have been, Ziva's younger son had recuperated enough for him to be transferred out of the NICU and into a regular hospital room. Ari was happy that he could finally see his baby brother. _Let's hope sissy joins us soon. _

He gently lifted the warm bundle out of the small bed he had been sleeping in and held him close. So warm, so soft, so cuddly… so vulnerable.

The baby gurgled happily, eyes shut. Ari felt a surge of protectiveness towards his tiny brother.

"I love you," he repeated.

XXXXXXXX

It was still dark. Gibbs stirred, stiff from sleeping on the floor. He glanced at a clock. _Ten o'clock? But I've been asleep for hours… I hate winter nights. They're just too dark for too long. _

It occurred to him that there was still light in the room, even though the moon had disappeared from the window. _What on earth-_

Glancing around for the source of the light, he chanced to glance at the wooden chest and the nameplates. He stood dumbstruck for a moment, mouth wide open.

_This is not happening. _

Then he looked again at the nameplates.

_This did not just happen. _

XXXXXXXX

On the third day of Christmas, the three French hens had the misfortune of being called Freedom hens by "politically correct" Americans.


	19. Names

Not mine…

Happy New Year.

XXXXXXXX

"The Twilight Zone?"

"Maybe she hid something in an alternate dimension?"

"You would think that, Abby, but this is Ziva. She would hide something where only she or her friends would find it."

Eli held up his hand. "Wait a minute. I remember her saying something about how underneath her bed was incredibly messy because she could never clean it up and stuff just disappeared there. Then Ari made some half-comment about it being the Twilight Zone…"

"Under the bed?"

McGee shrugged. "It's worth a try."

XXXXXXXX

Lilyann watched Charlotte talking with Ari and smiled. Her daughter seemed to have recovered from the loss of her brother, Sebastian.

She did have to worry, though, about what would happen to Ari and the baby twins. With the team's permission, she had visited the baby girl who had received her son's lungs. She wondered what would happen to the three of them. _Maybe we could adopt them… _

She would have to ask Roger first, though.

She hoped he would agree.

XXXXXXXX

Tony probably would have compared the box to the chest that held Davy Jones' heart. McGee, Abby, and Eli were less inclined to do so, but they still admired the chest. Abby couldn't help but wonder if Gibbs had made it for Ziva. It seemed like his work.

"Would you do the honors?"

McGee handed the key to Eli, who inserted it into the keyhole and opened the chest.

Right in the top of the chest was a painting. At least, that seemed like the best thing to call it.

The back was a single piece of paper, about six inches wide and a foot tall, painted bright gold. On it was a flower made of colored wax, with a green stem, pink petals, silver inside it and as a base for it… and three claw marks scored across it, the outer two black, the middle one blood red.

"That's… a little disturbing." McGee frowned.

Abby smiled and lifted the painting out of the chest. "It's really cool."

"Ari made it."

McGee and Abby stared at Eli. McGee broke the silence.

"That would explain the disturbing."

Underneath the painting were three tied-up bundles of letters. Each had a picture on top, with a nametag attached to the photo.

One of the pictures was unmistakably Ari and Ziva as kids. The nametag said simply, "Ari".

The second picture was of a smiling baby boy wrapped in a blanket that the three of them recognized as little Ari's baby blanket. The nametag bore the moniker "Ari (II)".

And on the final stack…

The ultrasound printout of the twins, though blurry and indistinct, was still adorable. A nametag was stuck to each side: "Chayim" and "Nasya."

Abby smiled. "Well, now we know the twins' names."

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: On the seventh day of Christmas, the seven swans-a-swimming gave Michael Phelps a swim for his money.

I know it's short, but I'm busy. Happy New Year! Shestrun, signing off from 2011!


	20. Sight

This is still not mine…

Before we get started today, I would like to make a few announcements.

First of all, to the many reviewers who have asked who fathered the twins and Ari, I appreciate your curiosity, and treasure your reviews, but I really have no idea who their fathers are. However, I am of the opinion that they have different ones (odds of such a coincidence are just too low), and whoever fathered the twins is almost certainly dead. Ari's though… hm, sequel material maybe?

Second, to those anonymous reviewers who felt the urge to badmouth my story, is that really necessary? I fully support your right to leave whatever review you feel I deserve, but I believe it is within my rights to ask that you refrain from calling my story "a piece of crap", "boring", or "lame". If you have a problem with my story, please clearly articulate it. And you should certainly have the guts to sign your reviews. I will gladly discuss the shortcomings of my writing with anyone.

Anyway, here we go…

XXXXXXXX

"You called?"

Abby smiled at Gibbs as he led her down the hall. He nodded.

"I wanted to show you something that happened last night. I really need to know I'm not losing my mind."

"The world famous Leroy Jethro Gibbs has self-doubts. The world is upside down."

"Yeah, it's been known to happen."

Inside Ziva's room, Gibbs lifted one of the nameplates, the one with the moon, and showed it to Abby. She gasped and clutched it, awestruck.

"How did you know what Ziva named them?"

Gibbs was even more startled than Abby. "I didn't. I fell asleep on the floor-"

"You really shouldn't have; hospital floors are disgusting."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, when I woke up, it was still dark, but the sun, moon, and stars were glowing, and I guess I'd somehow carved the nameplates… Wait a minute, did you just say that Ziva named them…"

"Exactly what you put on the nameplates."

Both of them stared at the wooden celestial bodies, mouths wide open.

Then Abby finally broke the silence.

"It took me, McGee, and Eli _ages_ to find Ziva's letters to them, and all you had to do was go to sleep…"

"I didn't do it on purpose, Abs. I never do. It just… happens."

He glanced out the window and was absolutely certain that he saw Ziva's face in the window, smiling.

XXXXXXXX

Author's note: Happy New Year!

On the eighth day of Christmas, the eight maids-a-milking (it for all its worth) signed up for Hypochondriacs Anonymous.


	21. Snow

I own only my OCs. Please don't sue me for them.

Yay! 101 reviews!

XXXXXXXX

"So anyway, this is my baby brother, Chayim."

Charlotte giggled. "That's a funny name."

Ari couldn't help but grin. The two of them were in Chayim's baby room, taking turns holding him. Tony was supposed to be babysitting, but he'd fallen asleep, leaving the three kids to their own devices.

Happy as he was, Ari still worried about Nasya. The little "miracle" was still off-limits for him to visit even a month after her surgery. He couldn't really understand why- something about her immune system being weak. The team had taken a bunch of photos, which Abby had put into an album, of both babies, but it somehow wasn't enough. He wanted to hold Nasya.

At least he could spend time with his other "sister". He'd been surprised when Charlotte's parents offered to be his as well, but glad. He liked spending time with Charlotte, and now instead of sleeping on one of his friends' couches, he got to sleep on Charlotte's family's couch. Marger. That was their last name. Considering it would probably be his last name soon, he really needed to remember it.

Mrs. Marger (he couldn't quite bring himself to think of her as Mom, not yet at least) had mentioned that they would be moving to a bigger house soon, one with room for all of the kids. Ari was looking forward to finally having a place to call home.

XXXXXXXX

The hole in the wall had turned white. She thought there might be weird fluffy white things falling outside it.

_I want my brother. _

Even with everything -food, comfort, warmth- provided for her, Nasya was seriously missing something.

Or rather, some_one_.

Chayim.

XXXXXXXX

_Ari bolted upright. Something had scared his subconscious. _

_Several shots rang out, and he heard the end of a bullet clip. _

_Throwing off the covers, he ran through his apartment to the back porch, concerned about what might have happened to Ziva. _She can't get into a gunfight. She's eighteen. She's eight months pregnant…

_He was relieved to see her standing at the open door, gun in her hand. She seemed fine, but the adrenaline wouldn't wear off. _

"_What- what's- what just-" he gasped for air- "Are you okay, Ziva?" _

_She turned her head towards him, one hand still holding the gun, the other resting on her swollen belly. _

"_What the bloody deck is that?" _

_He resisted the urge to correct her English. She'd been learning it for a while, but still struggled with idioms. He hoped that quirk of hers wouldn't last too long. _

"_What is what?" _

_She gestured with the gun towards the snow outside, which he realized had fallen the previous night. It occurred to him that she had never seen snow before… _

_He looked past her and realized that she'd shot the snow- _

_Dumbstruck, Ari stared at his little sister for a moment before he burst out laughing hysterically and fell to the floor. _

"_What's so funny? And you still haven't told me what this __**stuff **__is. __**I'm**__ seriously going to kill you-" _

_Ari was laughing too hard to respond. _

XXXXXXXX

On the ninth day of Christmas, the nine ladies (square) dancing realized that they had issues.


	22. Laughter, Happiness

According to my parents, they own everything that I consider mine, so I definitely don't own this. Sigh.

Why is it that without warning, it hits me that this is the last chapter? I know my stories like to have lives of their own, but you'd think they would give me fair warning, wouldn't they? By the way, there will be a sequel.

XXXXXXXX

Chayim giggled.

Charlotte looked down at him, startled. _That's the first time you've done that, little brother. _

Ari dashed across the room from where he'd been watching the snow and touched Chayim's cheek. "I wonder what's so funny."

"Maybe he just likes to laugh. It does feel good…"

Chayim shrieked with laughter, almost as if he were agreeing with his older siblings. Before long, all three of them were in convulsions, Chayim having been dumped rather unceremoniously into his bed because Ari and Charlotte were literally rolling on the floor from laughing so hard.

XXXXXXXX

"So then I said to her, 'Do you like movies? Because there's a theater not too far-'"

"Tony, that's a really lame pickup line, and I really don't need to hear all about what or who you did last night, okay?"

"McCan'tgetadate, my worst pickup line stands head and shoulders above all of yours put together."

Nasya laughed, waving a hand in the air. Tony smirked at McGee, who glared back, switching back and forth between his teammate and his honorary niece. Then he relaxed and joined in laughing.

"I'm laughing at how cute this kid is, not your awful comeback line."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

XXXXXXXX

Finally, it was time to leave the hospital. Chayim had been ready for a while, but Gibbs had gotten this strange feeling that both twins would have gotten really ticked off if they had been separated. Once Nasya had been released from the NICU, she and her brother had been put in the same room. The team and the Margers- now best of friends were overjoyed that they could now visit both babies at once.

Since then, any time they were more than five feet away from each other, the twins insisted on wailing hysterically. McGee and Abby thought that they had gotten so used to one another's presence in utero that they needed the same contact now; Tony freaked out whenever it happened, saying that he didn't understand kids; the Marger parents figured out an easy way for one person to hold both babies comfortably in anticipation of raising the twins; Charlotte didn't really get the concept of a crying baby; Ari could actually manage to get one or the other of the twins to fall asleep in his arms, a trait it seemed on occasion Eli might share; and Gibbs…

Gibbs couldn't entirely put into words what he thought about the twins' overactive bond. If he had been able to, he would most likely have admitted that he suspected that they might on a subconscious level know what had happened to their mother, aunt, and uncle…

But then he would tell himself that it was just his imagination.

XXXXXXXX

Ari opened the door to his new room. Although his new family had moved into their new house several weeks ago, he had wanted to hold off on moving in to his new room until his baby siblings came home. That way, they were all coming home at the same time.

Sunshine streamed through the windows, almost blinding him for a moment. When it cleared, he smiled. He loved his new room.

The walls were painted a dark blue, a pleasant contrast to his baby blanket, which lay folded on the bed. The bedspread and sheets were also different shades of blue. His favorite color, admittedly perhaps for no other reason than for its association with the one link from his mother he'd had all those years.

He walked in, and noticed that the carpet was black and fluffy, tickling his bare feet. He stood still and enjoyed the feeling for a while.

Glancing around, he noticed that all the furniture -the bed, the two bookshelves waiting to be stocked with whatever books he discovered he liked, the dresser full of nice new clothes, the desk where he could do the homework he got from the school he'd started going to…

The thought of school slightly tarnished his good mood as well as disrupting his train of thought. He enjoyed learning, but spending all that time away from his siblings…

Then he remembered what he'd been thinking about. Gibbs had revealed earlier that day that he'd made two cribs, two rocking chairs, a changing table, and a playpen in the former boatshed in his basement. He must have done the same for Ari. Ari resolved to thank him.

Speaking of the twins…

Ari walked across the hall and slipped into Chayim and Nasya's room. The nearly-three-months-old twins slept peacefully, breathing in unison. He smiled at them.

In her sleep, Nasya lifted her hand and waved vaguely at Ari. He waved back, then noticed that Charlotte had walked in as well and was standing next to him. She smiled up at him, happy.

All was well and good in the land.

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Author's note: Keep watch for the sequel. And, before you go, kindly leave a review? I do so love reviews. Or you could always check out one of my other stories. Either way, have a nice night.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, the eleven pipers piping picked a peck of pickled peppers.


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